Born in 1085 (5603 AD) on the water world of Gashidda to a Solomani administrator aiding the Imperial occupation, Mercutio grew up with his grandparents’ tales of the Solomani Cause and the Solomani Rim War. He was torn between his Solomani ethnicity and his father’s role in helping support Imperial martial law. Rebelling against his quisling father, Mercutio hung out with the seedier underside of society despite getting prestigious and comprehensive schooling. Too much partying and maybe a bit of overconfidence led to him disastrously flunking the university entrance exams, much to the shame of his father. Fleeing a confrontation, he signed on as a crew member aboard one of Solar Shipping’s freighters. Over the next several years, his freighter would spend as much time docked in port repairing damage from sabotage, suspected to possibly be sponsored attacks by a competitor like Tukera Lines, as actually plying the stars. Spending more time carousing in the shadier startowns outside the starports, Mercutio, going by the nickname of Merc, eventually found a smuggling crew willing to take him on.

Smuggling drugs and contraband to worlds in the Imperial occupied Solomani Sphere proved profitable; so profitable in fact that the crew were approached by an illegal human trafficking ring associated with the Jardin Syndicate. They were asked to smuggle a load of mixed race or non-Solomani, no doubt to some form of sweatshop labor. Merc and his crew however drew the line at slavery and they not only rejected the job, but freed as many slaves as they could before fleeing.

Was the Imperial Navy patrol that caught them red-handed over Kidashi with a load of recreational herbs years later just bad luck or a form of revenge from the Jardin Syndicate? Merc does not know for sure but that patrol seemed to know exactly which ship to board and thoroughly search. Thankfully, his lawyer successfully pleaded reduced culpability and a reduction in sentencing, and Merc got away with a “mere” 50,000 Credit fine. The smuggling ship was impounded and the other crew members were either jailed or scattered after similarly hefty fines. With an Imperial arrest record and feeling the call of his Solomani heritage, he decided to skip across the border. It was surprisingly hard to find a ship willing to take the grubby looking Merc across the border. Fortune seemed to smile upon him though when he spotted a familiar face at the starport: one of the people he had freed from the human trafficking ring 4 years ago, a Vilani going by the distinctly non-Vilani name of Daddio McCool. The recognition was mutual and after an explanation of his circumstances (and waving a sufficient wad of Credits), Merc was taken to see the captain, Soloman Jones.

The price was steep, a full 20,000 Credits, for passage to Twylo where the ship was due for its annual maintenance. Along the month long journey, Merc got to know the crew and sufficiently impressed Soloman enough to take the place of one of the other crew due to leave the ship.

Soloman Jones was born in 1077 (5595 AD) aboard one of the 23 large asteroid habitats of Scathe. His family had a long history of service in the Solomani Confederation Navy, contacts with influential high Party officials, and a lineage stretching back into the murky mists of time, allegedly back to the heroic days of the Terran Confederation and even further back to its predecessor, the near mythical United Nations of Terra. Unsurprisingly, Soloman grew up preparing to join the Confederation Navy much as his parents and grandparents had done before him. His entry to the Academy was smooth and uncomplicated, no doubt due to his pure Solomani blood and clean Party background check. Though slight of build from his life in a partly low gravity environment, Soloman kept up and trained to become a pilot. His time at the Academy was only marred by being caught red-handed cheating on an exam with his friend Guatama Smith. Due to his Party connections, Soloman was let off with a stern reprimand and punishment duty, while Guatama was kicked out. Their friendship ended over what Guatama saw as a double standard.

After graduating and being commissioned, Soloman served 8 years in the Solomani Confederation Navy, but remains tight-lipped about the details of his service beyond admitting that an incident occurred that left him severely injured. After extensive reconstructive surgery, Soloman woke to find both hands had been deemed beyond saving, amputated, and replaced with cybernetic prostheses. Though this gave him back full functionality, they were not top of the line models and were still identifiably artificial upon close visual inspection. For some unexplained reason, they would also at times spasm or freeze up momentarily. Neither the technicians nor the doctors could identify a specific cause, and in the end they just wrote down the nebulous term “idiopathic imperfect neural interface integration”.

The Navy made a big show of paying Soloman’s hospital bills and awarded him the Blood Crest medal (the equivalent of the Purple Heart). Though his social standing rose accordingly for being wounded “in heroic service to the Confederation Navy”, Soloman quit the Navy in disillusionment.

At a loss for what to do, Soloman returned to Scathe and tried leverage his connections to join a financial services firm with high Party clients. After lavish “gifts” and paid vacations to key people, he was hired as a financial consultant and assigned to a branch office on the libertarian world of Sequoyah. Soloman was a quick learner and was quickly promoted, with the help of Charlain Hillard, his boss. They had an off and on relationship but it never quite worked out. Maybe it was the cybernetic hands, maybe she was married more to her work, or maybe it was both. They parted on amicable terms and still stay in touch, but Soloman wanted to return to the stars and get away from daily grinding for the system and Party. Converting his remuneration package shares to cash, he looked for used starships at used ship dealers and salvage yards.

Upon the recommendation of what seemed a drifter hanging out at a salvage yard, but one that obviously was technically inclined, Soloman looked more closely at a battered nondescript 25 year old ship. The dealer seemed about to drive a hard bargain but quickly changed his tune when the drifter, named Daddio McCool, pointed out the hitherto concealed smuggling compartments and how the Confederation Navy or SolSec might be interested in the vessel’s history. Soloman’s financial firm connections meant the First Boötean Bank did not ask too many questions beyond requesting the necessary downpayment. Despite his non-Vilani name, the drifter had the tell-tale features and skin tones of a Vilani. In return for his help in selecting a ship, Daddio requested long term working passage to wherever the ship was going, with no questions asked. Soloman agreed to this but requested in turn that Daddio keep to his state room when not working and take his meals at separate times to avoid discomfiting Solomani passengers.

Soloman spent the next 4 years travelling between the Confederation and the Imperium, living hand to mouth, barely making the mortgage payments, but at least Soloman was free to go wherever he wanted. Daddio would spend his time reading technical journals (considered slightly perverse by Vilani standards) and writing freelance news articles of wherever they went for the Terran Adventurers’ Society, which was ironic considering the Society barred non-Solomani from joining. Other crew came and went, and cash flow was tight. After the engineer failed to return on time from shore leave, Soloman in desperation had to give Daddio the position and 3% partnership share of profits in addition to the usual salary. Having the Vilani out of sight in the engineering section made for fewer problems with sensitive Solomani passengers. The slim profits Soloman made were mostly eaten up paying back debts he owed.

Soloman’s lucky break came when he picked up a Solomani Imperial on Kidashi desperate to get to the Confederation, and obviously on the run from further Imperial entanglements. The Credits were good and went a long way towards paying for the ship’s due annual maintenance on Twylo. During month long voyage, the passenger, who went by the name of Merc, impressed Soloman and Daddio with his piloting knowledge. Clearly Merc knew his way around starships. With one of the existing crew due to leave the ship for good at Twylo, Soloman once again was forced to offer a position to a passenger in order to keep his ship flying. After two weeks of rest while the ship underwent its annual maintenance, Soloman now had to ponder where to go next.

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